Journal box lid



Sept. 16, 1941. 4 T. R. WEBER JOURNALBOX LID Filed April 8, 1941 Patented Sept. 1.6, 194i JOURNAL BOX LID Theo-dore R. Weber, Latrobe, Pa., assignor to American Locomotive Company, New York, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application April 8, 1941, Serial No. 387,439

4 Claims.

This invention relates to journal box lids.

An object of the present invention is to provide a journal box lid having a cover, an energized spring, and a separate hood cooperating to hold the spring energized, the hood to this end serving at a part thereof as a cam face engaging the cam lug of the journal box.

A further object is to provide a lid of the aforementioned type in which the spring is formed of coils having looped ends forming eyes mounted on the hinge pintle for the lid and ends secured to the hood.

Other and further objects of this invention will appear from the following description, the accompanying drawing and the appended claims.

Referring to the drawing forming part of the present application, Figure 1 is a front elevation of a lid involving the present invention, the hinge pintle and journal box being shown, the latter in dot and dash lines, and the hood being broken away and shown partly in section on the line I-I of Fig 2; Fig. 2 is a section on the line II-II of Fig. 1, parts being shown in full, and the journal box` being indicated fragmentally in dot and dash lines; Fig. 3 is a section on the line III- III of Fig. 2, parts being shown in full and other parts in dot and dash lines; Fig. 4 is a section on the line IV-IV of Fig. 2, parts being shown in full; and Fig. 5 is a fragmental side elevation of the lid, the box being indicated fragmentally in dot and dash lines and the hood being shown held partly open relative to the cover by an assembling and disassembling wedge.

'Ihe journal box is indicated generally by the reference numeral I, and may be of any usual gral with the box.

The lid, indicated generally by the reference numeral 4, comprises a cover 5, preferably made of stamped metal, having the usual strengthening ribs 6 and the peripheral flange 1. The top run of the flange 'l has formed thereon upwardly extending lugs 8 for a purpose later to be described. The cover further comprises, approximately at its center portion, a horizontal rearwardly directed depression 9 providing a seat for a spring later to be referred to. The depression at each end portion thereof has a raised seat IQ for a purpose later to be described.

The lid further comprises a spring, indicated generally by the reference numeral I I, preferably formed, as shown, as a single member but may be made of two separate springs if desired. The

spring comprises two coils I2 having their inner ends extending upwardly to form two branches I3 connected together by a U-bend I 4. The coils have their outer ends also extending upwardly f forming two branches I5. These outer branches extend to the lug 3, one at each side thereof, and are bent around to form loops or eyes I6. These eyes are bent from the branches proper in a rearward direction with their end portions bent in a forward direction and terminating in abutting faces I'I to the rear of, and slightly spaced from, the lugs 8 when the lid is closed upon the box.

A hinge pintle I8 is mounted in the orifice of the lug 3 and extends therefrom at each side thereof, and the eyes I6 are mounted one on each of these extended portions. The coils I2 are seated in the depression 9 between the seats I0 and are secured to the cover by a bar I9, which i passes through the coils and extends therefrom connecting the hood and cover together.

at each side thereof, providing flat portions 20 which engage the seats I0 and are rmly secured thereto by rivets 2|. The bar between the portions 20 engages the coils interiorly thereof and is curved transversely to conform with the interior curvature of the coils to provide a working fit for the coils. Thus the spring is anchored to the cover affording a support therefor through the office of the eyes I6 mounted upon the pintle.

The lid further comprises a hood separate from the cover and indicated generally by the reference numeral 22. The hood and cover provide a housing for the spring. The hood is formed of a front wall 23, and the spring branches I3 extend to and engage, at the U-bend I4, the inner face of this wall at approximately the center of the hood although its exact point of engagement in a vertical direction is not important.

A staple 24 embraces the U-bend, extends at its end portions through orilices in the wall 23, and these end portions are riveted over thus firmly holding the hood and spring together. The spring thus connected to the hood, and as afore said to the cover, provides the only means of The hood at its lower portion has supported connection with the cover. This is preferably effected by resting the wall 23 at its lower portion upon the coils i2. The wall is provided with a rearwardly curved portion 25 preferably substantially following the curvature of the exterior of the coils.

The invention, as to some of its features, is

not limited to an eyeless cover or hood, nor to a spring having eyes for mounting the lid upon the hinge pintle. Where a spring having eyes is employed as aforedescribed, eyes may also be cover in any suitable manner, and the cover being provided with eyes for mounting the lid uponthe pintle. In such a modified structure, the hood could be either eyeless or providedwith the aforementioned auxiliary eyes. Q i ,Y Y f However, in all cases it is preferred toernploy an eyeless hood, as hood. eyes are objec-..

tionable Aas for instance during assembling and removal of the pintle, and furthermore an eyeless hood as shown provides simple pintle-retaining means. Obviously if the hoodY is provided with eyes, other pintle-retaining means must be employed. However, the construction shown in the Ydrawing is believed to bea most practical one, and hereafter the description will be lconfined to the lid as therein shown.V

In an eyeless hood construction the rearwardly curved portion is spaced slightly from the coils I 2 from its point of contact therewith downwardly and rearwardly,V and its end 26 iterminates somewhat short of the cover 5. This is to permit the hood at its top to be opened from thecover and to hinge about its contact with the coils.

The hood is formed with side walls 21. The spring branches I5 diverge upwardly to the eyes I6 and are then bent' inwardly to dispose the eyes parallel to each other. The side walls 21 are conformed to follow the'general direction of the engage the faces I1 as shown in Fig. 5, which holds the eyes I6, against the tension of the spring, in proper position relative to the hood and cover so that they may be assembled when desired with the pintle. Of course two wedges 29, one under each side of the hood, may be employed if desired, thus effecting direct holding of each branch I5 against movement toward the hood. "'With the parts as shown in Fig. 5 it will be obvious that the pintle may be withdrawn from the cam lug and eyes or inserted therethrough as desired.

, `The side walls 21 extend rearwardly at their Y upper portions to provide theparts that overlap the pintle, and as shown Ain Fig. 2 these extensions are cut away to provide parts suitably spaced from the lugs 8.

diverging spring branches I5 and parallel eyes f I6. The hood may be formed to fit the coils and branches I5 as-snugly as desirable within working, limits to provide minimum sidewise move-4 mentfof the lower end of the hood relative to the cover.

The sidewalls 21, which are integralwith theA wall 23, extend upwardly to a top wall 28 formed integral with the side walls 21 and front wall` '23. The top wall 23 extends over the top -of the lug 3 in spaced relation therewith to permit opening and closing of the lid and as a preventative to the entrance of foreign matter to the interior of the hood. Y

The side walls V21 overlapthe ends/of the its upper end, VVmust be Vmoved outwardly from l the spring eyes I6 so that the hood sides 21 will clear the eye orifices. To accomplish this the hood is turned about the spring Acoils relative to the lid to a sufficient angle to clear the walls l `2'I from the spring eyes, that'is to say, from the 1 path'of' the pintle.

This can bedone by Yinserting aewedge between one side wall 21 and the Y cover, sucha wedge being indicated at 29- in Fig. 15, where the hood is shownA rotated relative pintle;'.Duringthis wedgingaction -the lugs 8 As these side walls 21 are in close prox- The upper portion 3| of the wall 23 is disposed rearwardly of the lower portion and the two portions are connected by an inclined wall portion 32, this being merely for convenience of construction. The portion 3I at its central portion is depressed to provide a wall portion 33 disposed opposite the cam lug 3; The inner face 34 ot this wall portion 33 provides a cam vface which Vengages the cam lug, as clearly shown in i Fig. 2.

The spring is so constructed that it will be energized when the parts are assembled as shown in Fig. 2. The spring, in conjunction with the pintle and hood, due to thehoods connection at rthe cam face 3d moving upward over Ythe cam of the lug. 3.

In closing the lid .a somewhat reversalof the' opening procedure Wtakes place. During initial closing movement the cover swings about the spring coils-until the upper portion ofthe cover strikes the walls 21,(which are normally more or less spaced therefrom as desired), or preferably until the lugs 8 engage the parts 30. During further closing movement the lid moves asa unit The opening and closing pressure action of the spring is similar to com^V in an obvious manner.

parable conventional types of lids, that is to say the construction provides the Yjack knife blade opening and closing action. When th-e cover is finally closed it engages the face ofY the boxY evenly on all sides of the opening due to the flexibility of the connection between theY cover and boxlug, namely the hood andspring, and the flexibility of the connection between the hood and spring. v Y Y The hood may be cast or made ofstamped metal. made hard to withstand the Wear resulting from its movement over the cam lug undertheY pressure of the spring. To effect this `a vwear plate' (not shown) may be secured in any desired way,

as by welding, on the inner face of the hood at 'the portion'33, or the-hood may b e formed of temperedspring steel.

The type of spring employedfacting as it does to pull the Yhood into engagement with Ythe cam` lug and into. connection with the cover Vthrough the coils, causes the hood toact as a lever, Vful-f- {cruming about its point of engagementv with the* YThe cam face 34 should preferably be cam lug and exerting a pressure at its lower end upon the cover holding the cover iirmly against the box. The hood can therefore be disposed nearer to thecover Athan would be the caseY if the spring engaged the camflug in accordance with usual design. As a consequence of this construction wherein thehood engages the cam lug, the entire lid is more compact and therefore lighter, and, asthe hood is parallel to and close to the cover, it may be made of light stock. The lid as a whole is therefore lighter, reducing the tendency of the lid to pound on the box, which tendency increases as the weight of the lid increases. It will therefore be seen that the lid of the present invention has many desirable characteristics resulting directly from the hoodcam lug engagement and leverage features.

While there has been hereinbefore described an approved embodiment of this invention, it will be understood that many and various changes and modifications in form, arrangement of parts and details of construction thereof may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention, and that all such changes and modications as fall within the scope of the appended claims are contemplated as a part of this invention.

The invention claimed and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. A lid for an open face journal box having an oriced cam lug mounted on the top thereof and a lid pintle mounted in said orifice and having end portions extending therebeyond at each side of said lug, said lid comprising a cover for said box open face; an eyeless hood separate from said cover and disposed at the outer face thereof with its lower end portion associated with said cover for support therebyl and having at its upper end portion a front wall provided with an inner face for engaging the cam of said lug, a top wall for extending over said lug, and side walls for overlying the ends of said pintle for retaining same in place, said hood and cover cooperating to provide a spring housing; a spring within said housing aiording the sole connection between said cover and said hood and between said hood and said journal box, said spring being composed of two energized spring coils disposed at the central Iportion of said cover; means securing said coils to said cover, each said coil at one end thereof having a branch extending upwardly and looped at its upper end to provide an eye, said eyes being adapted to be rotatably mounted, one on each of said pintle end portions, each said coil further having at its other end another branch extending upwardly to an intermediate portion of said hood; and means securing said other branches at their upper end portions to said hood, thereby, when said spring is mounted on said pintle and said cover is closed, holding said hood spring-pressed upon said cam and said cover spring-pressed upon said box while permitting said hood upper end portion to be swung forwardly, clearing said side walls of said pintle for removing and assembling said pintle.

2. A lid for an open face journal box having an orificed cam lug mounted on the top thereof and a lid pintle mounted. in said orifice and having end portions extending therebeyond at each side of said lug, said lid comprising a cover for said box open face; a hood separate from said cover and ydisposed at the outer face thereof with its lower end portion associated with said cover for support thereby and having at* its upper end portion a front wall provided with an inner face for engaging the cam of s'aidflug and a top'wall for extending over said ylug, said hood and cover cooperating to provide aspring `housing; a springwithin said housing affording 'the sole connection between saidk cover and said hood,said spring being composed of two energized spring -coils disposed at the central portion of said cover; means securing said coilsA to said cover, each said coil at one end thereofghaving a branch extending upwardly and looped at its upper end to provide an eye, said eyes being adapted to be rotatably mounted, one on each of said pintle end portions, each said eye being open at the bottom with the face of its free end facing forward, said cover being extended upwardly in front of said end faces, said end faces serving as abutments for said cover during swinging of said lid in an opening direction, each said coil further having at its other end another branch extending upwardly to an intermediate portion of said hood; and means securing said other branches at their upper end portions to said hood, thereby, when said spring is mounted on said pintle and said cover is closed, holding said hood spring-pressed upon said cam and said cover spring-pressed upon said box.

3. A lid for an open face journal box having an oriced cam lug mounted on the top thereof and a lid pintle mounted in said orifice and having end portions extending therebeyond at each side of said lug, said lid comprising a cover for said box open face; a hood separate from said cover and disposed at the outer face thereof having at its upper end portion a front wall provided with an inner face for engaging the cam of said lug and a top wall for extending over said lug, said hood and cover cooperating to provide a spring housing; a spring within said housing aiTording the sole connection between said cover and said hood, said spring being composed of two horizontally aligned energized spring coils disposed at the central portion cf said cover, said hood having its lower end portion supported upon and extending partly around said coils; means securing said coils to said cover, each said coil at one end thereof having a branch extending upwardly and looped at its upper end to provide an eye, said eyes being adapted to be rotatably mounted, one on each of said pintle end portions, each said coil further having at its other end another branch extending upwardly to the central portion of said hood; and means securing said other branches at their upper end portions to said hood, thereby, When said spring is mounted on said pintle and said cover is closed, holding said hood spring-pressed upon said cam and said cover spring-pressed upon said box.

4. A lid for an open face journal box having an oriiiced cam lug and a hinge pintle mounted in said orice, comprising a cover means for said face; a separate hood having a cam face for spring-pressed engagement with said cam lug; energized spring means disposed between said cover means and hood, one of said means having eyes for mounting said lid on said pintle, said hood having portions for overlapping said eyes to retain said pintle, said spring means having a part secured to said cover means at substantially the central portion thereof, an upwardly extending branch exerting a force in a direction tending to move it away from said cover means, said branch and cover means having coacting parts vlimiting their movement at their relative upper ,endl portions, and` another upwardly yeX- tending arm secured to said hood at an inter-A mediate portion and exerting a force tending to pull vsaid hood and cover means together, said 5 hood lat its lower end portion having springpressed engagement with one of said means and at its upper end portion being :freeV for pivotal movement about its lower end portion away from said cover means against the resistance of said spring means; and a tool temporarily disposed between said hood and cover means at a portion spaced from said hood lower end portion, said tool holding said hood upper end portion in a e position outward fromsaid cover means whereby the adjacent pintle-retaining hood portion clears the adjacent eye.

'II-IEODORE R. WEBER. 

